Solo streamer

The only downside to Aurender is that the dynamic range on some tracks is too good

That’s an impressive high-quality problem to have.  Sounds like the N200 is giving you some “good trouble.”

Mconnect is not available for my iPad.

Are you sure?  I have an older iPad and have mconnect HD on it.  

I am very comfortable with others having different views to mine.  I do not have an insatiable need to fill some existential void in my soul

@mdalton Nor do I, but I do enjoy greatly helping people avoid obvious potholes when they’re thrown in front of them.  Such was the case here where your advice was just utterly counterproductive and wrong though you’ll never admit it — pothole avoided and success achieved despite you.  I’d say I hope maybe you actually learned something from this but pretty sure that info won’t process at all and you’ll just keep spewing your extreme minority opinion deluding yourself into thinking you’re somehow helping when really you’re just a perpetual pothole to people with otherwise open minds and ears.  It’s a free country and potholes can happen, but thankfully they can also be filled.

@mdalton Hmmm.  Sure seems like your link to expectation and confirmation bias was targeted at the OP, but whatever.  I don’t pick fights, I just respond to the material being given.  You have your opinion and I have mine, and thankfully the OP has his and didn’t bother to listen to your advice.  Good for him!

@mdalton So your contention is the OP is just fooling himself, is that it?  It’s really sad that you’re unable to hear differences between streamers, but that you keep trying to tell others there’s no difference is tiresome and remains utterly pointless and counterproductive here, but keep on fighting that bad fight if you must Don Quixote.

At last, all components are in perfect sync.  Can’t imagine set sounding sweeter.

Congrats!  And Goodonya for sticking it out despite all the naysayers.  Given all the back and forth that went on with @mdalton @mikhailark @lanx0003 and others that streamers don’t make a difference or that you were wasting your $$$ I think it would be useful and appropriate if you shared what improvements, and the overall level of improvement, you’ve experienced so far over your Cambridge streamer (and realizing the Aurender isn’t fully broken in yet).  And then there’s the bottom line — will you be returning the N200?

It really sounds wonderful on most tracks. As good as I had hoped.

Glad to hear!  I take it this means you’re not in the “all streamers sound the same” camp?  Ehem.  Look forward to your thoughts on areas of improvement once it’s settled in more. 

nah, we just know how networks operate.

@mikhailark  Yeah, you just don’t have any idea how they operate in an audio system and are unable or unwilling to use your ears to tell you anything because you arrogantly think you know everything, and you don’t.  You are very good at being able to stick your head in the sand though I’ll give you that, but I understand it’s easier for you that way.  You and your type are in the vast minority here for a very good reason that you can’t or won’t accept or grasp, and I’ve no inclination to waste anymore time than I already have with your foolishness.  You may now reinsert head in sand where it’s most comfy.  Later dude. 

thank god for you, our port in the storm.

@mdalton  Says the guy who speaks for next to nobody here and enjoys tilting at windmills.  I’ll take that for exactly what it’s worth. 

@mdalton  You very sadly can’t hear differences between streamers, and that’s a non starter and makes any further discussion with you on the topic pointless because you simply can’t understand what you can’t hear.  So you and the four other people here who likewise think streamers don’t make a difference can just go on thinking that, and you can just keep rocking that iFi Zen Stream and Pro-Ject Stream Box believing that’s as good as it gets and good for you.  The other 98% of us will enjoy exploring and enjoying better streamers and better sound while you go on believing we’re all kidding ourselves.  Ya gotta kinda wonder about the lopsided difference in personal experience there, don’t ya?  Or does that just somehow not compute in your mental equation?  I’d like to think that if I ever found myself in the extreme minority here on some topic that I’d have the self awareness and humility to consider that maybe — just maybe — my compass was off, but you be you.  Regardless, I’m done banging my head against some mad bugger’s wall.  Peace out. 

my listening obsevations  from 20 (not 30, sorry) years experience is that there are no differences.

Ibid.

Yeah, the dogmatists on this forum have a hard time figuring out what to do with me.  They want to put me in a box that just doesn’t fit. 

@mdalton  Yeah, the box you’re in is that you’re sadly incapable of hearing differences between streamers like almost all other people here very easily can and have, and as a result you’re reduced to only using a couple numbers to evaluate streamer performance.  That the vast majority of people here can easily hear differences between streamers is why your “alternative view” is just simply disregarded and will continue to be useless here, but you’re certainly free to keep spewing it and feeling frustrated if that’s your bag.  You think you’re providing some kinda service here by saying things like streamers have no sound when all you’re really doing is making yourself look utterly foolish to the vast majority here who’ve heard that to absolutely not be true with their own ears.  I’ll say again — they’ve heard significant differences between streamers with their own ears and spouting numbers will never overcome that so ultimately your little crusade here is just pointless.

a hard wired connection is not feasible for me and Aurender does not have WiFi connectivity.

As others have said, all is not lost!  Get Mesh or a Wi-Fi extender and go hardwired from that to the Aurender.  @ghdprentice uses a Wi-Fi extender with his uber-expensive Aurender with great results.  Plus, you really don’t wanna use any streamer with pure Wi-Fi because the Wi-Fi receiver in the streamer can greatly compromise performance so you’ll be better off using a mesh/extender no matter what streamer you use.  Stick with the N200!

@mdalton If the OP doesn’t hear a difference I’ll completely believe him as I said, but as he has good ears and a good system I highly doubt that will be the case. And yes, if someone can’t hear differences between streamers, like yourself, I do assume that either the system or listener’s hearing is compromised. In your case it appears to be the latter but whatever. Again, we’ll see.

and if you don’t hear a difference, you’ll be accused of having inadequate hearing, an insufficiently resolving system, or both.

@mdalton Absolutely not, at least not by me.  If the OP doesn’t hear an improvement I’d be pretty shocked but I’ll believe him 100%.  Hey, he has a 60-day return period so we’ll see, but I’d bet big $$$ that N200 goes nowhere.

And as far as his Benchmark DAC being a mismatch, perhaps that may be so at some level, but it’s sure as hell good and resolving enough to tell him if the new streamer sounds better to him or not, and if it does he reaps those benefits and can upgrade the DAC later if he chooses to get even more.  And maybe his DAC just sounds “right” to him, and if that’s the case and sounds even better with the Aurender then who cares how much the DAC costs?  I prefer my $3k speakers to plenty of others that cost more than three times as much, so cost is not an end all, be all indicator.  And I applaud the OP for choosing his gear by using his ears as the final arbiter.  Oh the horror!

Congrats on your excellent new streamer!  Please report back with your impressions that I suspect will ruffle the feathers here among those who think streamers don’t make much difference or can’t make a difference with your DAC.  Of course they’ll just say it’s you fooling yourself into thinking the Aurender sounds better if that’s your conclusion, but your thoughts will be interesting either way. 

Yeah, I’d second the Innuos Pulse both for excellent sound quality and its outstanding Sense app, and they also offer great customer service if ever needed.

What’s your budget, and are you looking for new or used?